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Sunday, 29 July 2012

A
Playful Day is kindly sponsored by Superknits, now with a super new website. Please show your support
for our playful friend by clicking on the link above- go on, spoil
yourself!!!.

A
Playful Day is also kindly sponsored by NorthboundKnitting,
uniquely hand dyed yarn, spinning fibre and modern knitting designs.
Please show your support for our playful friend by clicking on
the link above.

A Playful Day is proudly sponsored by Candy Skein, hand dyed yarns sweet enough to eat! Please support our playful friend by supporting the banner above.

Show notes:

Thereadalong has begun for 'The Knife of Never Letting Go' by Patrick Ness, the playful group on Ravelry

I have a special guest, Juliet Bernard, Editor of The Knitter, to talk about the Knitter's campaign Knit for Refuge. The campaign this year is Squares and Bears and details can be found here. Donations can be made here and to enter the competition, please see details here.

If you or someone you know needs support please visit www.refuge.org.uk for
more information. Refuge and Women’s Aid run a UK-wide, 24-hour free
helpline for women affected by domestic violence on 0808 2000 247

Friday, 27 July 2012

This month's 12 Women in 12 introduces a woman who has developed an expertise in the knitting industry that quite frankly, inspires the heck out of me. My work as a freelancer involves supporting independent yarn producers, dyers, designers (and cooks!) to grow their business through editing patterns, preparing press releases, developing blog support.... you get the idea. When I was first embarking on this journey I was advised to speak to Juliet Bernard who is something of a knitting PR guru. I am so very grateful for that introduction as she has taught me so much. Juliet has an impressive background and future, so I asked her to talk about the role she has developed for herself in the knitting industry.

(c) The Making Spot

Many of you may already know Juliet Bernard as the Editor of the UK based magazine 'The Knitter' but she is also known by many in the industry as she runs a PR company working in the design
industry as well as for clients such as Artwork and Rowan. These two roles make Juliet a fabulous person to talk to for any knitter, designer and company as she has her finger firmly on the pulse of new trends and projects developing in the knitting and textiles world.

Juliet developed her knowledge when she studied Textiles at UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of
Science and Technology) and worked for a number of years for Courtaulds
in the 80s. More recently, she has founded Planet Handmade, a soon to be launched website dedicated to supporting crafty businesses develop and flourish. It is evident from both her background and in talking to Juliet that she has a real passion for the craft industry that
makes her want to continually want to learn, improve and develop. She states:

Ours is such
an exciting industry which is so digitally engaged that there is always
something new and exciting to become part of. Whenever I meet people I
always go away with a little gem of inspiration. I don't believe I will
ever stop learning, or at least I hope not.

With this expertise in mind, I asked Juliet what advice she would give those wishing to take their craft from a hobby to a viable business. Juliet's advice was, as always, straight to point, insightful and thought provoking:

"Be
commercial and be true to yourself. Achieving both of these things is
not easy, but your integrity and your reputation are valuable assets to
anyone thinking of starting a business in our industry. The wonderful
thing about knitters is how generous they are with help and advice. It
may not always be right for you or even what you want to hear but do
take it on board. If you have a product or service that you are trying
to sell to others, timing is very important. It may seem obvious but
don't send out a mass email when everyone is talking about or at
Woolfest. Your message will be drowned out. Think about how you want
your audience to respond. What if it was you getting the email, what
reaction do you want? An 'unsubscribe' or a sale. And finally whatever
you do good luck. It's not easy developing a new business (I am in the middle of doing it myself at the moment) but it is huge fun. If any
of you are setting off on this interesting path, feel free to get in touch if you want any feedback: juliet@planethandmade.net "

As you can see
Juliet's dedication to taking yourself seriously as a business is
something very close to the theme of 12 Women in 12. There are many
people out there, thanks to sites such as Ravelry, Etsy and the blogging
phenomenon now starting to make that change from hobby to business. To be able to enjoy your work is an incredible thing but to make it successful, to make money from it to support yourself and possibly a family, takes that little bit extra and it is for this reason people like Juliet are now working within the crafting industry as it grows in size and commercial potential. Yes, knitting is a hobby that we all love and cherish but our supplies, patterns and those lovely blogs cost time and money on the creators part. Once money enters the equation, it needs to be a business transaction, as much as we do it for love. This less than creative side can be time consuming or unfamiliar to a dedicated creative type and its importance makes that pressure all the more greater.

(c) The Making Spot

I also asked Juliet about a cause very close to my heart that she has been quite the champion of in her time as editor. In this week's podcast, I will feature the most recent campaign that Juliet is helping to spearhead to support Refuge, The Knitter/Simply Knitting's charity of the year for the second
year running. Juliet says she finds it profoundly disturbing that in this day and age
that there are still women and children who have to flee their homes and seek
a place of safety. Juliet's team really wanted to try and show them that there are
people that care even if they feel very alone. Last year the magazine did an
e-booklet of patterns for readers and raised over £2000 as well as
delivering 1,000 blankets to Refuge. This year they are trying to do
something for the kids as well with a bear pattern. For more information, please visit the campaign page and tune in on Sunday to find out how you can help this amazing cause.

Finally, I couldn't resist asking Juliet which trends do she predicts for this
coming season. She found it hard to pin down just one but declared that her favourites are a
Dickensian theme with lots of lace and tweed, together with a winter
white story with frosty glimmer and snowflake cosiness.

A huge
thank you to Juliet for taking time out from her busy life to answer
questions to share with the playful readers. If you would like to keep
up to date with all of Juliet's projects, you can follow them on her website.

Stay
tuned for more 12 women in 12 and please do join in to show your
appreciation for great business stories by either tweeting along on
twitter (#12womenin12) or sharing your feelings on your own blog.
Be sure to let me know/ link us in, I'd love to know what you think!

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

I love dyeing yarn. I have completely and utterly no sense of an end result, just colours and tones I want to capture and I'm more than happy to explore them. I appreciate hand dyeing is quite an artform and it's why I love my favourite indy dyers. For me, I'm just happy if it looks like something I'd like to knit by the end of it!

I dyed this skein a while ago now

Let's look at it some more

I'm very pleased with the results as I was dyeing it for a friend. I had a 'vision' which never ends well with me. In this instance, I nearly got it. Almost.

You see, she'd shared a picture of her lovely self in some sparkly eyeshadow for St Patrick's day that I thought was fabulous on her. I really liked the green with an iridescent quality. THAT was my inspiration point.

So I collected chemical dyes (Jaquard) and Kool Aid in this colour family of green and blue while I wondered how to mix things to get such a result. While I pondered, I popped the silk/ merino laceweight skein in tepid water with a little Synthrapol to give it a pre wash and prepare it for taking on dye. I grabbed a dye pot I used specifically for this purpose, opened all the windows and switched on the fan. To help the acid dyes set, I pulled out some trusted white vinegar and I was good to go.

I grabbed my gloves and got to work, dipping in ends into increasingly lighter shades of green before bathing it all over with Kool Aid icy blue. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind....

.... too variegated for lace knitting. So back into the pot it went.

So now I pondered a colourwheel and thought about those subtle variegations that connect the primary colours. 'I need to tone this blue down with some green' was the decision I came to. I started light, so I could pull back if I need to and watched the colour work into the fibre. I added a little green at a time and Bingo! I had my skein. I left it to cool before it had a quick rinse in tepid water with Soak wash and was dried.

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

I know, I know, this comes as no surprise but I LOVE the way I fall out with it and then find it again, like an old friend patiently waiting for me. It doesn't judge me or resent me, just welcomes me back with it's soothing rhythm and yumminess. Sigh.

My mojo kicked back in and I've been trying very hard to rest. It doesn't come easily and so knitting has been there to help, as it so often is. I went to a birth prep class on Saturday and was understandably a little tense and so I took along a baby hat to knit for a friend and remembered why I started knitting in the first place- it keeps me occupied and stops me clenching my jaw. Knitting just reminds me to take energy into something constructive rather than beating the hell out of myself. I have quite a talent for self torture.

In returning to knitting with a vengeance I finished some socks for the giant. He gets just one pair a year as he has giant feet and doesn't particularly care about hand knitted socks. He's gradually changing his mind though as demonstrated this year when he put them straight on and sat wriggling his toes at me all night. I took this as a good sign and noted that hand knit socks were a yes. Although perhaps not too regular? His feet are enormous after all.

I worked these up in some yarn I'd bought undyed from Fyberspates a while a go. I dyed them on a crafty day with a friend a few years back. In fact, I'd been dyeing skeins up on the day the giant and I had our kind of first date. Well, it was our first meet up before we went on a DATE DATE. You know how how labels help in those early days right? This was just a meetup so it didn't matter I had dye on my hands. Honest.

Anyway, I wasn't convinced I'd have enough yarn for giant socks despite the fact he likes a shorter cuff (oh happy days) so I overdyed some leftover sock yarn in the stash. I like this way of using up scraps: odd cuffs, heels and toes. I'm never going to be a hexipuff girl so it seems a better solution to drowning in sock leftovers.

I'm mighty pleased with them as I tried really hard to work out the giant's perfect sock formula. The ankles will need to ribbed next time round but the heel and foot fit perfectly. I'll bare it in mind next year....

Sunday, 15 July 2012

A
Playful Day is kindly sponsored by Superknits, now with a super new website. Please show your support
for our playful friend by clicking on the link above- go on, spoil
yourself!!!.

A
Playful Day is also kindly sponsored by NorthboundKnitting,
uniquely hand dyed yarn, spinning fibre and modern knitting designs.
Please show your support for our playful friend by clicking on
the link above.

A Playful Day is proudly sponsored by Candy Skein, hand dyed yarns sweet enough to eat! Please support our playful friend by supporting the banner above.

Show notes:

Thereadalong has begun for 'The Knife of Never Letting Go' by Patrick Ness, the playful group on Ravelry

I reviewNovasteel Shawl Pins(Photo image above courtesy of Novasteel) and have one to giveaway to one lucky listener. Please leave a reply stating 'I want a pretty Novasteel Shawl Pin please and thank you' in the Ravelry Thread for this episode by 21st July 2012 to be in with a chance to win. Good Luck!

Off The Needles

Totally Vanilla Socks
by Alice Yu, taken from 'Socktopus: 17 Pairs of Socks Worth Showing
Off' which I reviewed in this episode. Using my own handdyed yarn from Fyberspates.

Munch, Burp Schlurp
A special edition of 'The Drams' from the most wonderful Louise of the CaithnessCraftCollective podcast and her lovely husband. The review Gordon's Gin and make me chuckle a million times over.

Friday, 13 July 2012

Wait.... it's Friday AFTERNOON?!?!? Well aside from the alarming fact I've not had lunch yet, I also appear to have lost the entire week. I had plans. I really did.

I was going to write a detailed post about how I dyed this lovely.....

.... talk about some fibre....

... that I accidentially bought.....

And then talk about how terrifying I found this cake. I have no idea which made it sink first- the amount of fat and dairy IN the cake or the amount on top. For the record it's Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guiness cake and it scares the hell out of a slightly dairy intolerant girl like me. Yow.

Sunday, 8 July 2012

I usually record the podcast ahead of time so that I have enough time to fit the shownotes, planning, editing and music searching in comfortably and stick to my recording schedule. This week, life kind of kicked my butt and I didn't get time to record ahead of the weekend. As the weekend has gone on I realised I was never going to find the time or energy to record.

So rather than force myself to sit in front of the mic, I'm postponing for a week and will be back next Sunday with something a lot more playful than I'd have managed after finishing my work shift today. Sorry folks.

Tuesday, 3 July 2012

I had a great response to my first blog post about my experiences as a woman expecting her first child. I read the comments with interest and was relieved that it wasn't just me feeling this way most of the time. Knowing it's not just you is a big part of keeping your sanity I've noticed during pregnancy.

I've given up with maternity wear (it's a myth and only comes out at full moons FYI), most parenting books just leave me more confused or annoyed and I have yet to decide on a more appropriate response to belly rubbing than just plain 'GET OFF!' I'm not even sure I want to?

But I'm loving a few things and I thought I'd share them as I wish in a way I'd found them without being pregnant. They've reminded me of life's pleasures and maybe they will you too.

Yoga.

With all the medical intensity I've had along the way, I knew I wanted something for me; an hour in my week that no one could interrupt and would help me prepare for the birth and beyond. I tried a class. It was awful and I despaired. I left feeling dejected and a failure that I didn't have the option of birthing in a pool and instead would have to give birth in a ward with strip lighting and a medical team on hand at all times.

Then I found Yogita London and my teacher Jen who quite frankly I would propose to if she wasn't already spoken for. She is calm and soothing without being patronising and she doesn't cross the line into crappy gender stereotypes EVER. I'm not lectured and made to feel I have to have a natural birth. I feel empowered to make the decisions I have to make and use her strategies to help me and my giant (who she thoughtfully included in a session) prepare for the birth and beyond.

I wish I'd been doing Yoga forever too. I'm not very good at relaxing. Spa's and meditation classes and all those other forms of relaxation make me immediately tense. I'd rather spend a weekend moutain biking than slipping around in dressing gowns as relaxation. At last, I've found someone who can help me focus and be calm. Amazing.

Other women

Ok, they were always there but I admit, I've tended towards the company of men or 1:1 female friendships rather than large female groups. I grew up with the boy next door and was tall and sporty so I always felt out of place with groups of women talking about magazines or fashion. I'd feel lost and out of depth with most women and even now have a select group of women I love and adore because they are fiesty and intelligent and we talk about politics, boobs and new books. Since announcing that I was expecting though I've been in awe of other mother's generosity: clothes, equipment, books, information and gentle encouragement. This from women I may have shied away from previously. I'm realising the shared female experience is an incredibly strong thing.

So there's my rays of sunshine. There are others like my ever playful baby, kicking and experimenting while I'm trying to concentrate on some writing or editing. It's been fun and the word seems to be spreading not to touch THAT pregnant lady's belly, lest she bite you......

Sunday, 1 July 2012

A
Playful Day is kindly sponsored by Superknits, now with a super new website. Please show your support
for our playful friend by clicking on the link above- go on, spoil
yourself!!!.

A
Playful Day is also kindly sponsored by NorthboundKnitting,
uniquely hand dyed yarn, spinning fibre and modern knitting designs.
Please show your support for our playful friend by clicking on
the link above.

A Playful Day is proudly sponsored by Candy Skein, hand dyed yarns sweet enough to eat! Please support our playful friend by supporting the banner above.

Show notes:

Thereadalong has begun for 'The Knife of Never Letting Go' by Patrick Ness, the playful group on Ravelry
I promo the Twin Needle Podcast